Wanted: One Scoundrel by Jenny Schwartz Page B

was transported, same as me, but he never cleaned up his act. Still a thief and a criminal-for-hire.”
    “I’m amazed he dared to steal from Father.”
    “Bambury paid enough. Sid’s drinking it up now.”
    “Who else is he confiding in?” Jed asked.
    “No one.” Francis grinned briefly. “He wanted reassurance from me. ‘When Aaron Smith finds out it was me who stole his watch, what’ll he do?’”
    Aaron looked up from his steak. “What did you tell him?
    “That he ought to consider the benefits of the life at sea.” Francis snorted. “Then he bleated something about not wanting to come up against Captain Fellowes, either.”
    “Ha.” Aaron returned his concentration to the steak, polishing off the last of it. Esme stacked the plates and popped them into the service hutch.
    Francis leaned forward. “So, what’s the plan?”
    “Apple crumble and custard.” Aaron smiled at Maud as she brought in the dessert. “I’ll just make us an after dinner coffee.”
    Esme declined, but Jed accepted thankfully. They vanished into the library and the marvels of the coffee geyser.
    “Sit down, Maud.” Esme patted a chair. “You’re part of the family.” She poured tea for both of them and refilled Francis’s cup.
    “Were you safe with Mr. Reeve?” the older woman asked in a low voice. “I worried. We don’t really know him.”
    “He was a perfect gentleman.” Esme smiled. “Father likes him.”
    Maud sat back with a sigh of relief as the two men returned with steaming mugs of coffee.
    “Now,” Aaron said. “Here’s the plan.”
     
    The men’s club was paneled in wood, smelled of leather and tobacco and to be honest, rather disappointed Esme.
    “I don’t like cowards, Bambury. Walk or I’ll shoot you where you stand,” Aaron Smith said as the man hesitated on the doorstep.
    “Sir, I protest this bushranger behavior.” The villain seemed to take courage from the familiar environment of the club where he’d lorded it over the younger men.
    Men looked up from newspapers and discussions. The grandfather clock in the hallway announced eleven o’clock.
    “Smith, you back in town? What’s this all about?” Dr. Palmer hurried forward, his eyes flicking from Bambury to the gun Aaron held, and then, to Aaron’s grim face.
    “I’m going to give Bambury a chance to confess,” Aaron said.
    “Sir, I believe it is you who must explain yourself, drawing a gun on an unarmed man.” Bambury tugged at his coat, ricked up by Aaron and Jed’s rough handling when they picked him up from his lodgings and dumped him in the carriage. Where he’d been silent on the short ride, only shooting a vengeful look at Esme, now he was vocal. But his hands trembled. “And I point out Miss Smith is transgressing the rules of this gentleman’s club by entering.”
    “So are you,” Jed said. “I personally wouldn’t let an egg-sucking snake like you slither over the entrance. But I think all the men who think you’re a fine gentleman deserve to know the truth.”
    “Hey, you can’t say such things.” One of Bambury’s followers spoke up, while Bambury tested the limits of his freedom by edging away from Aaron. When he wasn’t immediately grabbed, Bambury strode on into the reading room. He hid his shaking hands in his pockets.
    Esme ignored bleated protests from the members of the club and followed him, confronting him as the center of attention. She wore a naval-inspired blue walking dress with a gold braided short cape. Her polished black boots and stylish hat brought her equal height with Bambury.
    “On Monday, this sorry excuse for a man extorted a promise of marriage from me.”
    Her statement provoked a riot of exclamation.
    Bambury faced her, smirking. Evidently, he’d realized it was her word against his. Only the wary eye he kept on Aaron gave away his worries. “Preposterous.”
    “That’s what I thought. The whole notion of marrying you was preposterous—until you threatened Father.”
    As